Tag: Paige VanZant

Photos: Paige VanZant vs. Chelsea Dodson at Power Slap 9

Check out these photos from former UFC star Paige VanZant’s second slap fighting match at Power Slap 9 in Abu Dhabi

Check out these photos from [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag]’s second slap fighting match at Power Slap 9 in Abu Dhabi. VanZant and Chelsea Dodson slapped each other to a unanimous draw. (Photos courtesy of Power Slap)

 

Video: Paige VanZant’s second Power Slap match ends in draw

Former UFC star Paige VanZant’s second appearance in Power Slap wasn’t a success the way her debut was.

Former UFC star [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag]’s second appearance in Power Slap wasn’t a success the way her debut was.

On Thursday in Abu Dhabi, VanZant slapped her way to a unanimous draw against Chelsea Dodson, with all three judges scoring the fight 28-28 after three slaps each. VanZant won the first and third rounds but was docked a point for a clubbing foul in Round 2.

You can watch video highlights in the clips below:

VanZant’s draw against Dodson, the wife of former UFC title challenger John Dodson, comes on the heels of her winning a decision in her Power Slap debut this past June.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3507: Guests Raquel Pennington and Paige VanZant, PFL and UFC recaps, more

Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”


Monday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.

On Episode 3,507, the brosephs welcome in guests [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] and [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag]. Plus, they recap the big PFL: Battle of the Giants pay-per-view, the UFC’s latest show and discussed the latest news. Tune in!

Returning at Power Slap, ex-UFC star Paige VanZant says she’s likely done with MMA

Former UFC star Paige VanZant is likely done fighting in MMA.

Don’t hold your breath for an MMA return from [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag].

The former UFC star, who in recent years has been fighting for BKFC and Power Slap, doesn’t see herself returning to the sport that launched her profile, although she doesn’t rule it out 100 percent.

VanZant has put a lot of mileage on her body throughout her combat sports career. She still loves MMA but doesn’t want to risk her health any further.

“I don’t ever like to say I’m closing the door 100 percent, but I do see it would be hard for me to go back into MMA, not because I don’t love it or not because I don’t have a passion for it still, but like I said, I broke my arm five times in my life and four times in basically two years of competing,” VanZant told MMA Junkie Radio.

“I had two surgeries on it, and I still have a huge plate that runs the length of my entire forearm. So just going back to that place of risking breaking my arm again and having surgery again and getting set back, I can still have the thrill of competing, and I can still get that rush without putting my body at risk. One, I’m fine if I break my arm, it’s really just the mental fortitude, I don’t know if I can push through that again. It was a really, really rough few years.”

VanZant returns to competition at Power Slap 9 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Although the athletes are taking defenseless blows to the head, there isn’t the wear and tear of grappling in competition or preparation – which VanZant appreciates.

VanZant is signed with Power Slap on a fight-by-fight basis. She doesn’t know how long she’ll continue, but for now, she says it has been a fun career chapter.

“My draw to Power Slap is that I had nothing going on, and I just came out of a boxing match, so I was like, ‘You know what, I’m already in shape,'” VanZant said. “They called and asked if I wanted to do Power Slap, and I was like, ‘Yeah, why not? It seems like a great opportunity. I didn’t know if I would want to do it again, it was a brand-new experience, and I absolutely loved it.”

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Paige VanZant’s second Power Slap appearance booked for UFC 308 fight week

Paige VanZant said she would do slap fighting again, and she meant it.

[autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] said she would do slap fighting again, and she meant it.

Dana White’s promotion announced Wednesday that VanZant will make her second appearance Oct. 24 at Power Slap 9 in Abu Dhabi where she’ll face newcomer Chelsea Dodson. The event takes place just two days before UFC 308 at Etihad Arena, also in Abu Dhabi.

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VanZant, who was once a UFC darling, won her Power Slap debut against Christine Wolmarans by unanimous decision after three rounds of defenselessly slapping each other in the face back in June.

Afterward, VanZant said she believed she had a future in slap fighting.

“I told everybody, and everybody should know that I am tough as hell,” VanZant told reporters after her win. “I’ve gone from the UFC to bareknuckle boxing to boxing to Power Slap. I’ve done pro wrestling. I just want to compete. I had an absolutely incredible time doing this. I think that they’re gonna want me back absolutely, so I do see a future here. I just want to compete, and I want to live my life and have fun, show off how tough I am.”

VanZant’s victory in her Power Slap debut was her first in a combat sports setting since a January 2019 submission win over Rachael Ostovich in the UFC’s first event of the ESPN era. After that, VanZant lost her final UFC bout against Amanda Ribas in 2020, lost two BKFC fights against Britain Hart and Ostovich in 2021, and earlier this year fought to a split draw in a boxing match with influencer Elle Brooke.

‘Rise & Grind’ with Elle Brooke, Paige VanZant ahead of potential Misfits Boxing rematch

Go behind the scenes of Paige VanZant’s Misfits Boxing title shot against fellow OnlyFans star Elle Brooke.

After a split draw in her return to competitive combat sports earlier this year, [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] hoped for a rematch against [autotag]Elle Brooke[/autotag].

Misfits Boxing might be on board with it, too. The promotion seemed to be in the immediate aftermath of MF & DAZN: X Series 15 in Houston, where VanZant and champ Brooke each got a 48-46 score in the five-round fight. A third judge scored the bout a 47-47 draw.

The fight was VanZant’s first combat sports outing since a unanimous decision loss in a bareknuckle boxing bout against Rachael Ostovich at BKFC 19 in July 2021. Although she has been competitive in her last four outings across MMA, boxing and bareknuckle, VanZant has not won a fight since she submitted Ostovich in January 2019 in the UFC. She tried her hand, literally, at Power Slap recently and picked up a win.

Brooke is a social media influencer and OnlyFans model who crossed over into boxing. VanZant took the opposite route, but has said in recent months that she made more money in 24 hours on OnlyFans than she did in her entire UFC career, which spanned nine fights over around six years.

While a rematch isn’t official, the social media stars are part of a third episode of OnlyFans TV’s “Rise & Grind,” which looks back at their fight in Houston. Look back at the first fight behind the scenes in the video from OnlyFans TV.

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Paige VanZant ‘had an absolutely incredible time’ doing Power Slap, sees future in it

If Paige VanZant gets her way, she’ll be back in Power Slap sooner than later as the former UFC star believes she has a legitimate future.

LAS VEGAS – If [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] gets her way, she’ll be back slap fighting sooner than later as the former UFC star believes she has a legitimate future in it.

Making her Power Slap debut last Friday at Fontainebleau Hotel & Casino, VanZant defeated Christine Wolmarans by unanimous decision after three rounds of defenselessly slapping each other in the face. VanZant’s venture into Power Slap – owned by Dana White and the UFC – was mocked by critics as the latest in a series of gimmicky career moves since her UFC departure. Those have included bareknuckle boxing with BKFC, pro wrestling with AEW, influencer boxing, and now slap fighting.

Now with one competition under her belt, VanZant is emboldened to make the most with Power Slap.

“I told everybody, and everybody should know that I am tough as hell,” VanZant told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after her win. “I’ve gone from the UFC to bareknuckle boxing to boxing to Power Slap, I’ve done pro wrestling. I just want to compete. I had an absolutely incredible time doing this. I think that they’re gonna want me back absolutely, so I do see a future here. I just want to compete, and I want to live my life and have fun, show off how tough I am.”

VanZant said she’s capable of doing Power Slap “much more often than any other sport,” in large part because she won’t cut weight.

“I do not think that you should cut weight for this (because of) the dehydration of the brain,” VanZant said. “… It does affect your brain. Taking slaps and just eating them right there, you do want to have your brain as hydrated as possible.”

When VanZant signed with BKFC in August 2020 after leaving the UFC, critics questioned why she’d do such a thing. Her signing sparked a lot of interest in BKFC and helped the promotion grow into an attractive option for mixed martial artists.

She believes she can do the same for Power Slap.

“Going from the UFC to bareknuckle boxing, it felt the exact same as coming here to Power Slap,” VanZant said. “I think nobody expected it. BKFC still wasn’t the powerhouse name that it is now, so I do think I sparked a lot of interest in people going over to BKFC. I think I’ll do the exact same thing here with Power Slap. You don’t know until you know, and now I hope I let everybody know that I do belong here, and I want to do crazy things.”

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Slap happy: Dana White remains adamant Power Slap will surpass the UFC

The Power Slap promotion championed by UFC CEO Dana White got a big boost this past Friday.

LAS VEGAS – The Power Slap promotion championed by UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] got a big boost this past Friday.

When former UFC fighter [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] made her slap fighting debut in Las Vegas, she became arguably the most popular social media figure to compete in the promotion. VanZant landed the cleaner shots over three rounds and won a unanimous decision over Christine Wolmarans by a trio of 30-25 scores at Fontainebleau Hotel & Casino.

VanZant’s popularity on OnlyFans, as well as other social media platforms, as well fights for BKFC, made her a celebrity slapper of sorts, and White thinks it’s one more rung on the ladder to make Power Slap potentially bigger than the UFC over time, he said.

“I said it – go back. Some of you were there and heard me in the early days,” White said after Power Slap 8. “I said, ‘This will be the biggest sport in the world. This will be bigger than the UFC. This will be bigger than the UFC.’ Now you can remember I said that, everybody will be like, ‘Oh, he’s a f*cking nut,’ and all that sh*t. And then I’ll see you in a few years and we’ll talk again.

“This is one of those events – it’s like the UFC again. When we put on a live event, nobody leaves a UFC live event and goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t ever want to see one of these again.’ That’s the same thing with the Power Slap. It continues to grow. This was our eighth event. We’ve only done eight events. And if you look at the success of this thing and just eight shows, we will get better every time we do it. The athletes will get better. There will be people that come that continue to draw and people want to see Slap. It’s all just a huge work in progress. It will just get better every time we do it.”

White thinks someone like VanZant, who has north of 3 million Instagram followers, can help raise the bar, either by attendance or competition. Since she left the UFC, VanZant has been known for her popularity as a social media influencer as much as her combat sports pursuits, if not more, and she has talked openly about making more money in 24 hours on OnlyFans than she did when she was in the UFC.

White is banking on social media to draw new fans, not traditional media.

“It’s like all the slap fighters vs. the world,” White said. “Everybody’s talking sh*t on the internet and f*cking writing sh*tty stories and all that stuff. I tell these guys, ‘F*cking embrace it. It’s beautiful. It’s a great thing. You know what you don’t want? The guys who write no f*cking stories and don’t say anything about it.’ We’re building this sport a completely different way, and it’s not built through the media. We’re not building this sport through media. This is the future of how sports are going to be built, and I’m showing the whole f*cking world how it’s done.

“Everybody that you bring in, especially somebody that already has a certain level of fame and a certain level of followers, you attract new people to it. There’s no doubt about it. Tonight in that room, the most powerful influencers in the world are in that room every time we put on an event. These kids create content for a living. That’s what they do, and nothing goes more viral, no matter who you are, how many followers you have (than Power Slap).”